1. Related Field
The present invention relates to a signal directing means for dividing an input signal into at least two output signals or combining at least two input signals into one output signal, the signal directing means comprising a bottom row first port, a first row first port and a first row second port. The signal directing means further comprises a bottom row signal connector having a first end connected to the bottom row first port and a second end connected to a bottom row grounded termination impedance. The signal directing means further comprises a first row first amplifier and a first row second amplifier, each first row amplifier having a corresponding first terminal and second terminal, said first terminals being connected along the bottom row signal connector such that it is divided into connector parts.
2. Description of Related Art
Power dividers such as combiners and directional couplers constitute microwave components normally used for power division or power combining. In power division, an input signal is divided by the coupler into two or more signals of lesser power, and in power combining two or more signals are combined to an output signal of more power.
A power divider/combiner is often a three-port component with equal division, but more ports and/or unequal power division/combining ratios are also possible.
A wide variety of passive waveguide couplers and power dividers/combiners are available, originally E- and H-plane waveguide tee junctions, Bethe couplers, multihole directional couplers, waveguide magic-T:s, and various types of couplers using coaxial probes were developed. In the mid-1950s through the 1960s, many of these couplers were reinvented to use stripline or microstrip technology. The increasing use of planar structures for signal transmission also led to the development of new types of couplers and dividers, such as the Wilkinson divider, the branch line hybrid, and the coupled line directional coupler.
Power division and power combining are frequently used signal operations in microwave systems, especially in AESA-radar systems with its many T/R-modules.
When regarding passive power dividers/combiners, there are a number of drawbacks:                They are lossy, resulting in a net loss in the component.        They are generally narrow-banded, typically 10% to 20%.        Odd numbers of division or combining (3, 5, 7, . . . ) is difficult to obtain.        They require a relatively large area.        
The document U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,618 discloses an active power divider or combiner comprising distributed amplifier components, such that a net gain is obtained.
However, it is desirable to obtain an active power divider or combiner that:                provides more gain,        is easier to make,        is more compact; and        has an enhanced gain-bandwidth product.        